DC - International Megan's Law passed by U.S. House of Representatives

Congressman Chris Smith

Original Article

05/20/2014

By Brendan McGrath

A local congressman is pushing a bill that would bring Megan’s Law, which has led to the creation of registries for child sex offenders across the country, onto the world stage.
- Not everybody on the online sex offender registries (hit-lists) are child sex offenders!

The International Megan’s Law, sponsored by Congressman Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives today.

The bill is named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old from Hamilton who was killed by a repeat sex offender living nearby her house 20 years ago.

“Sex offenders around the world are now able to cross borders and oceans easily to carry out their horrible designs against children under the cloak of anonymity and then disappear before a child is able or willing to reveal the crime,” Smith said today.

Smith has introduced versions of this bill multiple times over the past few years, including in 2010 when it passed the House, but it has never made it through the Senate.

This bill, H.R. 4573, was introduced two weeks ago and was passed unanimously by the House Foreign Affairs Committee before being passed by the House today.

The legislation is not just intended to prevent U.S. offenders from hurting children overseas, Smith said, but also to establish a reciprocal relationship.

“The International Megan’s Law would establish the model needed for the U.S. to persuade other countries to take action to stop both child sex tourism within their borders and protect children in the United States and elsewhere,” Smith said today.

Megan Kanka’s parents, Richard and Maureen, called the proposed law a “step in the right direction.”

“We must not only show the world that we will not tolerate these perverted acts in the United States but internationally also,” the Kankas said in a statement.

If the bill is passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama, it would provide a legal framework for the Angel Watch Center, which is currently a one-person operation in the federal Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement agency that notifies destination countries of intended travel by offenders with a serious registered sex offense against a child, Smith’s release said.

“The stories of the victims are tragic — ruined childhoods, devastated families, lifetimes of memories of assaults and sometimes worse,” Smith said.

The bill also would work to establish better lines of communication to effectively share information about the travel of child sex offenders between federal agencies, the release said.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report in 2010 that said that in fiscal year 2008 at least 4,500 passports were issued to registered sex offenders by the U.S., the release said.

International Megan's Law moves through Congress

Richard and Maureen Kanka

Original Article

05/11/2014

By Cristina Rojas

The International Megan’s Law cleared a major hurdle Friday when the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously passed it.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) has worked to pass the bill, which would expand the system of registering and tracking sex offenders to the international community, since 2008, when he first introduced the legislation. It was previously approved by the House in 2010.

It bears the name of Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old from Hamilton who, in 1994, was kidnapped, raped and killed by a repeat sex offender living nearby.

Under the bill, the United States would notify countries where registered sex offenders were seeking to travel. Those countries, in turn, would be asked to inform the U.S. when sex offenders travel to the U.S.

“The goals of this legislation do not stop at protecting children overseas from U.S. predators,” Smith said in a statement. “Sex offenders around the world are now able to cross borders and oceans to carry out their nefarious activity under the cloak of anonymity and disappear before a child is able or willing to reveal the crime.”

“The International Megan’s Law would establish the model needed for the U.S. to persuade other countries to take action to stop child sex tourism originating within their borders and threatening children in the United States and elsewhere,” Smith continued. “The goal is reciprocal notice.”

Smith said the International Megan’s Law would work in conjunction with anti-human trafficking laws, which Smith wrote and steered through Congress in 2000.

The bill is expected to be brought before the full House in the near future.

ME - Maine Panel Splits on Bill to Expand Sex Offender Registry

Original Article

01/27/2014

By A.J. Higgins

A legislative committee has issued a split decision on a bill requiring state residents convicted of sex offenses in foreign countries to register as a sex offenders here in Maine. Supporters say the bill is needed because current law provides a loophole for Maine sex offenders whose crimes are committed outside the country. But critics argue there are serious due process issues at stake because the standards for a conviction in a foreign country may not be the same as in the United States. A.J. Higgins has more.


The need for the bill seemed obvious to state Rep. Joyce Maker, a Republican from Calais, a stone's throw from the Canadian border. She says the issue came to her attention during a conversation with someone from Homeland Security, who told her an American convicted of child sexual assault in Canada had been deported back Maine.

But Maker says state law enforcement agencies were not authorized to add his name to the sex offender registry because his conviction occurred outside the U.S.

"It's going to be my focus, I guess here in the Legislature, to try to protect those children that are being sexually abused," she told colleagues, "and this is just one other avenue that they're getting to."

Maker's solution would be to require Maine residents convicted of sex offenses in foreign countries to comply with the provisions of the state Sex Offender Registry Notification Act. The bill received the support of the Calais Police Department last year, but the legislation was carried over to this year's session.

Mark Dion, house chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, says a 9 to 4 vote by the panel against the legislation reflects lawmakers' concerns over the due process rights of the individual.

"I think the arguments around due process are significant enough that this could get tied up in courts, when what the police chief wants to do tomorrow is make sure his community has been put on notice," Dion said.

The due process issues are very real for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine that has gone on record against Maker's bill. The ACLU says that, unlike others convicted in Maine and required to register as sex offenders, those with convictions in other countries have not gone through the American criminal justice system and not afforded the same constitutional protections.

As pointed out by the ACLU's Oami Amarasingham, not only would there be concerns that a foreign court would not include adequate criminal defense provisions, in some countries, there might not even be a trial. Those real concerns created a lot of doubt for Dion and other members of the panel, prompting the Portland Democrat to try to find an alternative remedy.

"So rather than see this fall down some sort of legal wormhole, we worked with the chiefs and said, look, they can develop notification policies, they can advise us as to what criteria they would use from the other police agencies in determining whether or not to make a notification," Dion says. "So I think we protect the public safety, we get the word out where it's appropriate. But we don't get hung up being in court trying to determine if it's fair to put somebody on a registry in this state."

Rep. Corey Wilson, an Augusta Republican, says Dion's compromise could provide the kind of protections law enforcement agencies want. But Wilson also worries that without a strong enough message, police agencies might simply choose to avoid community notifications all together.

"I'm afraid that there are going to be police chiefs or county sheriffs that are going to be reluctant to take on this for fear of litigation purposes, where we're dealing with foreign jurisdictions and sort of uncharted territory, where we're not dealing with convictions within this country," Wilson said.

Dion says a minority report on the bill is expected, setting the stage for further debate when the measure reaches the House floor.

AUSTRALIA - Attack prompts check on sex offender trackers

Original Article

This just shows you how brain dead politicians are. Apparently this man was wearing a GPS and still committed a crime, and this politician thinks something can be done to prevent it. Well, it cannot. A person who is intent on committing a crime, will do so! But you keep living in Fantasy land and wasting more money trying to prevent something you cannot.

01/22/2013

By Eric Tlozek

Premier Campbell Newman says the State Government will make sure a program to track the location of sex offenders is working properly.

A man on a dangerous prisoner supervision order has been charged over a weekend attack on a 31-year-old woman at Wacol in Brisbane's south-west.

Mr Newman says he wants authorities to check if the system for fitting GPS trackers to sex offenders could be improved.

"Look I believe the program is one that works," he said.

"Can it be done better? Yes."
- How?  Magic pixie dust doesn't exist yet!

"And will we be looking at ways to improve the safety of security of Queenslanders through this and other initiatives? Yes we will."

Wife of sex offender hounded from estate after neighbours discover husband’s past

View the article here

04/23/2007

THE wife of a sex offender from Whitehaven has been hounded out of her home after neighbours discovered her husband’s past.

Keith Hinde’s wife was threatened by residents near their home in Grammerscroft, Millom, after they found out Hinde’s background.

It was even alleged that during his stay on the estate Hinde had babysat for local children whose parents had no idea that he was on the sex offenders’ register.

Sally Atkinson, who lives two doors away, said: “We had no idea about his past when they first arrived. Everyone on the estate was friendly towards them – he even babysat for local families. But then we learned of his past.”

In January this year Hinde was jailed for 18 months and banned from ever having anything to do with children after being found guilty of abusing a woman with learning difficulties. After the case police had to move his family from Whitehaven to a safe house in Millom to avoid ‘hate’ repercussions.

A judge at Carlisle Crown Court said at the time of his conviction he was “extremely concerned” that, while 43-year-old Keith Hinde had no previous convictions for sex crimes, he had been criticized in official reports for “inappropriate behavior with children”.

The court heard that in 2001 he was found not guilty of gross indecency with a boy.

As a result Hinde was banned indefinitely from having unsupervised access to anyone under 18, banned from living in any house with young people in it and banned from working with children.

He was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for 10 years.

Acting Detective Inspector Cliff Walker said: “Cumbria Constabulary are fully aware of Keith Hinde’s offending history and status. On his release from prison he will be subject of the appropriate monitoring processes in accordance with current legislation.

“We are aware of recent issues surrounding the housing of an individual in the Millom area, this individual has now been relocated due to some community tension.

“Cumbria Constabulary and Probation Service work with other agencies to put in place measures to protect the public when offenders are housed in any community by ensuring such offenders are identified and managed. Public protection is the absolute priority.”

DI Walker said that it was the police and other agencies that decided to move Mrs Hinde from her home and that she had not asked to be moved.

Man attacked ex-friend guilty of sex offence

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04/21/2007

A MAN attacked his former friend after finding out he was a sex offender.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard John Kay, 44, assaulted Ian Bruce on July 23 last year by repeatedly punching him and pushing him against a wall.

Kay discovered Mr Bruce had served a five-year sentence for a sex offense after he had helped him try to get a job in a community cafe.

Defense agent, Andrew Houston, described the case as "unusual". The two men had been friends and often drank with each other, and in November 2005, Kay was working as a volunteer in the cafe.

The cafe coordinator had asked him if he knew anyone who might take up the position of janitor and Kay recommended Mr Bruce.

But after Mr Bruce had been interviewed for the job, the coordinator took Kay aside and told Kay that they could not employ Bruce as he was on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Mr Houston said Kay was shocked and was concerned about how it might reflect on him as he had pushed Mr Bruce forward for the job.

Eight months later, Mr Houston said his client, under the influence of drink, wished to find out why Mr Bruce had not confided in him and went to his flat where an argument broke out.

Kay, of Wauchope House, Greendykes Road, Edinburgh, was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service.